All Good Things Come To An End
by xX-Misty
Summary: Companion fic to What Do You Want From me? detailing events from the 6 weeks Robin was back in the real world before he died. While Robin and Kim appreciate the valuable weeks they have together Layton is becoming increasingly unhinged, Molly has questions and *someone's* beard is growing back. Rating may rise to M later for dark themes and whatever Kim keeps under the bed.
1. Prologue: Laden Letters

**Prologue**

"_Robin and Kim."_ The letter began, _"thanks can never be enough."_

Kim's hand rose to her eye. She'd barely read the first sentence but already it was having a severe effect on her tear ducts. She swallowed and tried hard to keep her composure as she carried on reading.

"_You took care of me from my first day back in the real world and helped me find my way home. You saved me from weeks shut away with strangers by taking me into your home. You helped me to regain my strength and then to stay strong enough to work out how to return to Gene. Your friendship has gone above and beyond the call of duty."_

Kim hiccupped as the tears began to escape. Alex had written the letter some weeks before, when they journeyed to Manchester. She'd left it out for Robin and Kim to find along with letters for Molly and Evan, but when her plan to return home had gone wrong she'd packed them away. It wasn't until Kim began the arduous task of going through Alex's things that the letters turned up. She had been reluctant to even open it, anxious about doing it without Robin but she had no idea when or if he would wake up so eventually she made the decision to go ahead and face it alone.

"_There is one thing you should know,"_ the letter continued, "_I have placed a request with my will for my ashes to be scattered alongside Gene's. Please make sure that this happens, I trust you both implicitly and I know you will do all you can to make sure we are together. The details of my request are held at Beardless, Beardless and Beardless solicitors. They are aware that you have been the representative adults in my care and will take you very seriously._

_Finally, please, keep doing what you're doing and don't let anyone try to tell you that you're wrong. Love doesn't read the rule book. For everything that you've had to go through together, it only takes one look at you to see you're doing everything right."_

Following that there was a line that had been crossed out. Kim held it up to the light, then back on her lap and finally squinted at it and pulled it closer to her face before she managed to read;

"_as long as that 'one look' doesn't happen to involve extremely enthusiastic lovemaking in somebody's hospital room"._ It made Kim give a tearful giggle, despite herself. She put her fingers to her mouth as finally a hint of a smile fell across her lips.

"_I will miss you both more than you'll know,"_ the letter continued, _"Take care of yourselves, and of each other, until we meet again. "_

Alex signed off the letter with a kiss and a small drawing of a tin of baked beans. As she reached the end of the page Kim laid it down and slowly got to her feet. The full reality of the situation hit her hard. Alex had already been gone for a few days. Time felt strange to Kim. It seemed as though she'd been gone for far longer, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all. She shuddered as she walked through the empty rooms of the flat. She felt haunted, so alone. The rooms were so bare when there was no laughter filling the air.

"When are you going to come back?" she whispered, her eyes moving to a framed photograph on the wall of herself and Robin, "If Alex has made it home then why can't you?"

He'd been gone for weeks. So had her smile.

~xXx~

Almost two months.

She'd been living without him in her life for two months, She'd spent hours beside his bed but it only hurt when she knew his soul was somewhere so far away. She needed him back so much. It pained her to even think it. She was supposed to be strong and independent, she always had been never relied on anyone else. Well it seemed something had changed her. No, some_one_ had changed her. For the first time in her life she really felt like part of a couple, two halves of a strong connection.

But now, as time went by, she began to fear he was never coming back.

"Maybe you've made your decision," she whispered beside his bed. Her heart was splintering into sharp, painful shards inside her chest as she thought about it but the question wouldn't go away. What if he'd decided to stay with Simon? She'd always feared that. She didn't see how having less than a year together could wipe out all those years of closeness between them. While the rings on their fingers said differently she couldn't fight her fear, especially since the one man who could tell her for certain one way or the other was stranded years away from her.

She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead before she stood up and left the hospital room, glancing back at him one last time. All the wishing in the world couldn't bring him back to her if he didn't want to make it.

~xXx~

Arthur Layton wiped his dripping nose against his coat sleeve. How many weeks had he been in hiding now? Three? Four? It felt like more than that. But then, unable to find anything to slip into his veins, the withdrawal had been horribly painful and stretched every damn day of it out for an eternity. When word had got around about his attack on the dealer he soon found it impossible to find anyone who would sell him anything. In fact, he found it impossible to find anyone who wouldn't attempt to _kill _him when he approached them. His own stolen stash disappeared very quickly and soon he was back to being free of the poison in his body.

So why did he feel crazier without it? Why, now he'd been off the stuff for a good while, did he feel crazier than ever? Voices in his head, or _one_ voice at least; barking at him, telling him what to do, pushing him towards more and more violent thoughts. Had he finally cracked? Was it the years of substance abuse that had finally turned his brain inside out? He didn't want to think about alternatives.

And now, there he was, on that very night the cold and rainy night where he stood outside of the hospital, swathed in dark material, the hoodie hiding his features and the rain drowning out the voice. Not that it made a difference. It was too late. He'd already listened to what the voice wanted him to do.

The corridors passed in a blur. Had to act fast. Didn't have a lot of time. Had to do his best to make this swift and stealthy; keep out of sight, wait for the right moment. There was no guard on the door now, not any more. That had been stopped only days before. So when he reached the door of the hospital room there was no one and nothing to stop him.

Except for Robin's determination to open his eyes and wake the hell up.

_**~xXx~**_

_**A/N: So I've apparently decided to write this, especially since I think I'm going to need something a bit less mind-bending while I'm writing my other fic to give my brain (such as it is) a break when needed. This is a… well, not a *sequel* to What Do You want From Me? Because it would be shoehorned in the middle of it rather than following the end. I guess it's a companion piece. I wanted to write about what happened during the 6 weeks Robin was back with Kim in the real world before he died, mostly for my own fun because I really miss the Robin/Kim story arc I wrote on Fictionpress, but the idea's also grown in my head to focus a bit more on Layton and what he was doing all that time, lying low between trying to Kill Robin in his hospital room and finally succeeding.**_

_**Also, this story may eventually involve Evan's beard regrowth **_

_**And Geoff.**_

_**The rating may rise to M for dark themes and Robin/Kim sexy-times later on (oh yeah, as well as Layton causing the Fenchurch East bloodbath, lovely!)**_

_**I'm also continuing my theme of naming fics after songs, this one named after a Nelly Furtado song which last year I ended up playing on repeat through writing much of Whispering and since then I'd always wanted to use the song in a story.**_

_**Also, Rant needs to stop deducting points from me for being mean to Kim! **_


	2. Chapter 1: Good News, Bad News

**Chapter One**

Layton stalked around the bed, a gun in his hand. He knew he hated Robin. He knew he was one of the arseholes who had confronted him on the roof. He also knew that he was one of the main witnesses in his trial – especially when it came to all the things he knew he hadn't done. But did he hate him enough to put a bullet in his head? Even Layton wasn't 100% sure of that, but the voice in his head told him otherwise. In fact, it goaded him over and over until he couldn't _wait_ to see the bullet hole in his temple.

He found himself hissing into Robin's ear, delivering the words that ran through his mind. He spat with hatred and boiled with anger as the voices in his head reminded him again and again how much of his predicament the comatose man in front of him was responsible for.

He held his gun firmly. His gun…. Well, not exactly _his_. Kim's gun. He'd taken it with him after shooting the two women on the barge. There was a nice irony in that, he thought, the gun of Robin's _dearly beloved_ being the one to end his life. He scratched at his arm as he realised that thought was a bit out of place for him. He didn't really care about poetic justice. Where had all those thoughts come from? He hadn't been feeling right, not since he awoke in hospital from his overdose. Ever since then there'd been a little voice in his head and it wasn't always in tune with his own.

As he pressed the gun to Robin's foregeas he felt a moment of hesitation. Even for him, this was bad. He'd fired bullets into flesh more times than he wanted to remember, but at point blank range to a comatose man? Was that actually necessary? _Really? _

His head told him so

His finger rested the trigger. This was his moment. One more witness out of the picture permanently and one more piece of revenge out of the way. He ran his tongue across his dry lips and braced himself. _Three, two, one –_

But at the end of the countdown came a different result than the one that he expected. It came in the form of a pair of eyes.

"Oh _shit!"_

_Oh, great tactics, Layton!_ He cursed himself as he stumbled backwards. What the hell was he doing? So the man had opened his eyes – it wasn't like he was in a position to fight back! Just pull the trigger… why didn't he pull the fucking _trigger?_ It wasn't too late. He could just… he could just try again… he could go back to the bed and –

No, that wasn't a viable option for a very good reason. The reason being that he'd crashed like a bloody idiot into an equipment trolley. The crash of bedpans tumbling to the ground was sure to raise suspicion and he knew that within moments the room would be invaded by those trying to preserve Robin's life rather than end it.

_And,_ he had to add, he was fairly sure he'd got a pair of scissors stuck in his bum cheek.

_"Are you sure it came from this room?"_

Silently he cursed. That was his worst fear confirmed: he'd disturbed the nurses on night duty. He had no option but to flee, as fast as possible. He scrambled to his feet, causing more clattering in the process as he heard footsteps and voices drawing closer.

_"It was from this direction, yes."_

_"But that's Mister Thomas's room and he's –"_

_He's a lucky fucking bastard_, Layton thought to himself as he gave a terrible cry and a growl that sounded like it had come from some kind of wild animal instead of a human being. He acted without even thinking, pushing one of the night staff to the ground and running as fast as he could, considering he had a pair of scissors jammed in his backside.

To Layton, the voices of the nurses brought fear.

To Robin, relief.

_"That was him, that was definitely him –"_

_"Are you alright?"_

_"I'll be fine… just bruised my backside…. Quickly, raise the alarm… get security… call the police…"_

_"Oh, great week to take the guard off the door."_

_"It's a good thing the patient wouldn't be able to – oh… oh goodness, hang on…"_

As they continued to talk and to focus their attentions on his open eyes, Robin knew.

He was alive.

'_I made it back.'_

~xXx~

The ringing of the phone disturbed Kim as she slept fitfully on the couch. She hadn't slept in her bed for weeks. Her muscles ached from her awkward position and her head hurt from resting at a bad angle against the hard arm of the sofa, neither of which helped her to find the phone with speed. Her eyes fell upon the clock. What kind of ridiculous hour of the morning was _this?_ One that she didn't want to see, that was for sure.

She made a grab for the phone to stop it from ringing. It wasn't a sound she liked to hear at that time of the morning. It made her shudder worriedly.

"Hello?" she said cautiously, clearing her throat a little.

"_Can I speak to Kim Stringer please?"_ the voice on the line asked.

"That's me," Kim sank back down onto the couch.

"_Oh, good morning_." The voice continued, _"I'm calling from Fenchurch General. It's about Robin Thomas."_

Kim's heart leapt into her mouth. As she heard the caller say those words all the colour drained from her face and she started to feel herself shaking.

"Good news or bad?" she whispered.

There was a moment of hesitation.

"_Actually both,"_ the voice began.

_Oh god, this is it,_ Kim closed her eyes, already choking back tears. This was the moment. Whatever the next words were that she heard would tell her one way or the other what decision Robin had made, whether he'd chosen to stay with Simon or to return. Was he dead? Or was he awake?

"Please tell me," she whispered.

"_The good news first,"_ the voice began, _"Robin woke up about half an hour ago."_

Kim couldn't have been more surprised by those words, nor could she ever have imagines one simple sentence could turn her world around. As she gasped and clutched a hand to her fast-beating heart she swallowed and closed her eyes. Was this real? Was he really awake? Surely they wouldn't be so cruel as to tell her so if it wasn't true. She panted for breath and knew that there were tears rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed gently with relief. The blood rushed to her face, bringing a pink glow across her cheeks as she silently thanked whoever or whatever had allowed him to come home.

"_Miss Stringer?"_ the nasal voice on the line began quite insistently, _"Miss stringer, are you still there?"_

Kim gulped back another wave of tears and nodded, even though she knew no one could see.

"I am," she whispered, a slight hiccup in her voice as she tried not to cry, "I'm sorry I wasn't… I mean, I'm just so surprised, I…" she gulped in another breath, "Is he really _awake?"_ she whispered, so scared to believe it in case she'd heard wrongly.

"_Yes, he is,"_ the voice confirmed, _"he is still more or less unable to move because of the medication he's been on but he'll get start to regain movement and speech slowly within the next twenty four to forty eight hours, and of course when the medication has worn off we'll be in a better position to assess any long term damage. But he is awake and you'll be able to see him as soon as you can get here."_

The words were amazing. They swam around her like fish in the ocean; circling her, filling her heart with warmth and electricity. She felt her whole body buzz with a kind of happiness that she had never experienced in her life before. It filled every inch of her from head to toe.

"Oh my god," she heard herself crying without even being aware that she was doing it, "oh my _god,_ he's awake… and he's alright? He's really _alright?"_

_"Like I said, we'll know more when the medication wears off,"_ the voice told her, _"but the signs are promising."_

"Thank God, thank fucking _God",_ Kim breathed, her whole body slumping back as she felt the strength drain from her limbs. The news had taken all her energy and turned it into a feeling of high elation but now she could barely sit up straight.

"_There is one thing though,"_ the voice pulled her back down to earth. Kim had forgotten about the bad news. She sat back upright quite quickly and her heart began to race for a different reason.

"What?" she breathed, "What's the matter? There's something wrong with him? Something hasn't gone right?

"_It's a serious matter, I'm afraid, but it's not to do with Robin's health or progress,"_ the voice told her.

"Then what?"

The voice hesitated.

"_There was a disturbance in his room_," it told Kim eventually, "_the nurses on the night shift heard some strange noises from his room and ran to investigate. There was an intruder."_

Kim felt her heart threaten to seize up in fear.

"Who?" she whispered.

"_It was Arthur Layton,"_ the voice told her and immediately Kim fell into panic mode.

"Oh god –"

"_It's alright… please try to keep calm, Miss Stringer,"_ the voice told her, _"Robin is fine. Mister Layton was disturbed before he could harm him in any way and the police are already here. He won't be getting back in."_

"Why the _fuck_ did they take the guard off the door in the first place?" cried Kim.

"I'm sorry," the voice said quietly, "I know it's frightening news, especially to hear it this way but we're doing everything to make sure Robin is safe."

"How the fuck did he get in Robin's room in the first place?" Kim demanded.

"_I'm sorry, I don't know,"_ the voice told her, "_when you come in someone will be able to talk you through exactly what happened. I wasn't present so I have limited information."_

Kim closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths,. She was trying very hard to calm down but it didn't seem to be happening. There was one thing and one thing only that would cure her of the anxiety that she had dwelling inside her chest and that was to see Robin for herself, to know that he was Ok.

"I'll be right there," she said.

_"You can wait until –"_ the voice began but Kim soon saw to that suggestion by cutting the call and getting to her feet. Shit, Robin was _awake_ – like she was going to 'wait' for anything.

She stumbled around, pulling on clothes at random. Since she'd been alone she hadn't taken much pride in keeping the flat tidy and had been mostly living out of the lounge. There were random clothes, clean and dirty, strewn around the place so she pulled on a couple of socks and a pair of trousers that wouldn't meet at the waist.

"Oh _shit,"_ she cursed. She still had no maternity clothes. After Alex died she couldn't stand the thought of taking hers back. It would have been too creepy, like walking in the footsteps of Alex's ghost. Even the thought of it sent a shudder down her spine. She found one of Robin's shirts and pulled on. The length masked the open button and hid her bump a little. Did Robin even know she was pregnant? Had a message got through? Had Alex been able to tell him? She had no idea what had gone on in Gene's world while Robin had been there so she had no way of knowing and didn't want to walk in with her stomach sticking out of the top of her trousers if he had no idea. Either it would be the most shocking way to tell him or he'd think she'd put on a hell of a lot of weight.

She didn't really mind wearing Robin's shirts, she admitted quietly to herself. They made her feel closer to him. And _he'd_ taken her eyeliner so it seemed a fair swap.

She looked at herself in the mirror before she left the flat. Her hair was messier than Gene Hunt's filing cabinet, bits of her body were desperately trying to escape from her clothes and she was fairly sure that her socks didn't match, but she didn't care. There was only one thing she cared about and that was seeing Robin's open eyes. Then and only then would she really believe it.

"_Welcome home, Robin,"_ she whispered quietly, before she disappeared out into the darkness of the early morning.

**~xXx~**

_**A/N: Uh, you know that 'Share/Save' button at the bottom of chapters? My head keeps reading it as 'Shave/Shave' and makes me think Evan and Geoff are taking over FFnet :-/ *gulp* No beardfics please!**_

_**And, Rant, I surely deserve to gain points now instead of having them subtracted from my heavily negative total! Kim's happy, damnit!**_


	3. Chapter 2: Odd Socks & Wiggling Fingers

**Chapter Two**

Kim took the hospital corridors like a five mile run. She moved at far too fast a pace, both for being in a hospital and for her present condition. She passed through department after department, making her way to the right place.

"Miss Stringer?" a voice called after herm but she didn't slow down. "_Miss Stringer,"_ the voice was more instant the second time and Kim finally slowed to a halt. she looked around to see a doctor flagging her down.

"Yes?" she said breathlessly.

"You're here to see Robin, aren't you?" the doctor asked and Kim nodded. "Before you see him I should tell you a couple of important points."

Kim panted a little and clutched her side. Now that she'd come to a halt her exuberant arrival had started to catch up with her although her ribs were healing nicely they were less than pleased about her physical exertion. Her stomach wasn't all that happy about it either, the growing child adding more weight to support. Even her odd socks were displeased. She ignored all three though.

"Can you make it quick?" she begged the doctor, "I need to see him."

The doctor nodded.

"Robin is still under a lot of medication," she explained, "as it slowly wears off he will regain movement and speech but at the moment his movements are severely limited and he isn't able to respond to you verbally yet.

"They told me all that on the phone," Kim said, a little crossly, "and besides, I'm _used_ to seeing people who have just come out of comas." She straightened up a little, still holding her ribs. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes," the doctor said, "the police are currently speaking to the staff who accosted Mister Layton earlier tonight, and an officer will be placed on the doors again shortly. But in the interests of keeping Robin as calm as possible it would be advisable for you not to mention the incident to him."

Kim rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air.

"I had enough of your '_no shocks'_ policy with Alex," she cried, "besides, if his eyes were open then I think he'll have a pretty good idea who came to _visit_ him!" she shook her head, "look, I won't go all-out to mention it but I'm not keeping anything from him. I want to tell him everything." She felt her heart racing as she realised she finally had that luxury – to talk to Robin and know that he was listening instead of just hoping that some of her words might get through. That brought a smile across her lips. "_Everything_," she whispered.

~x~

Robin's eyes focused on the clock, desperate for the time to pass. He knew the more time passed, the closer he would be to Kim's arrival. He had no idea whether they had called her yet – probably not, knowing his sodding luck. But he willed the minutes away in the hope that she would arrive. That was all he wanted – all he needed – to see her face and hear her voice. God, he'd fought so bloody hard, it was no more than he deserved.

_"Oh my god, Rob –"_

When those words struck him they caught him by surprise. He'd been so busy clock-watching that he had no idea the time had come for Kim to arrive and he felt his heart doing summersaults in his chest. He desperately wanted to turn to see her. He wanted to cry out her name and throw his arms around her. He wanted to pull her closer and press his lips against hers for one of those explosive kisses that had developed so unexpectedly between them. But he couldn't move, at least not well enough to do any of those things. He succeeded only in moving his neck a tiny bit but soon all he could think about was the fact that she was right there, in his line of sight, running towards him.

'…_Oh my God, Kim…'_

His head screamed that one line out again and again. If his voice had been working he'd have surely been crying it at full volume at the first hint of her voice. For just a moment she froze on the spot as she stared at him. His eyes were wide open. _Oh god, _how she'd dreamed of that. Her legs almost went from under her as she saw them; the dark brown eyes that spoke so deeply to her soul.

Quite suddenly she found herself drawn to him like metal to a magnet and she ran across the room with an explosion of tears that ran down her cheeks. She cried out his name again and again as her arms quickly cradled his head and her lips moved towards his. He couldn't move enough to kiss her back but the sensation of her lips against his brought all the life back into his body.

"Shit, Rob," she whispered. He could hear her voice wavering as she fought hard to keep the tears away, "what the hell took you so long? Don't tell me, you got lost on the latte run?" She wasn't sure but she thought she saw his lips flicker just slightly upwards in a smile. Trying desperately not to give in to tears, she threw her arms around his head and whispered over and over again, _"You came back… I can't believe you came back…"_

Robin closed his eyes and concentrated on the warm feeling of her arms around him. He always knew he was going to fight his way back – he just couldn't believe the moment had finally come.

It felt as though she embraced him forever. She was reluctant to move away but eventually she had to sit down. She did her best to cover her bump with her arms and the shirt she'd borrowed from Robin. If he _didn't_ know then she was fairly sure that was one shock that was better to wait to break to him when he had the power of speech back. She wanted to be able to hear his thoughts, not to try to guess them through his eyes.

"Fuck," she whispered, "I just… I didn't dare hope…" she swallowed and fought the tears again. They weren't her style. That was something she and Gene Hunt had in common – neither of them did _girly tears_, but this seemed to be an exception because as hard as she fought them they were very insistent. "I… there's so much I have to tell you," she whispered as she reached out and clutched his hand, "I just don't know where to start. And there's so much I want to ask you, too. As soon as you can talk… as soon as the medication wears off… because it won't be long," she rambled, not really knowing how to get out all the words that were trying to fight their way from her mind, "there's medication… I mean, it's causing you to be paralysed at the moment… more or less. But soon it will wear off, I mean, you remember Alex, right?" she took a deep breath. She knew her mouth was running away with her. She was jabbering a lot and saying very little, "remember how quickly she was able to talk… to move…" she noticed his fingers twitching in the corner of her eye and she looked at them with a slightly emotional smile. "Maybe quicker than expected," she said quietly, relieved and surprised to see any movement at all.

He desperately tried to indicate her bump but the wiggling of his fingers could have meant anything. He didn't want her to hide it, he wanted to see it, to feel it – all he wanted was for her to take his hand and press it to her belly so he could feel it for himself but he couldn't get his voice to work yet and his fingers were doing a frankly pathetic job of communicating his wishes.

"What?" she asked as his finger-twitching continued, she giggled a little, "I'm sorry, Rob, I don't speak 'finger'." She paused and smiled, "unless they're making rude gestures at the time, anyway…" she grasped the twitching fingers and squeezed them which stopped their manic movement but still she didn't understand what they were trying to say.

Robin cursed in his mind. _Stupid bloody medication._ He would have to wait until the next day to tell her what he was trying to say – but at least now that he was back he knew for sure he would get to feel it at last.

"Look at the state of me," she wiped her eyes on the sleeve of the shirt and gave a half-laugh, half sob, "Phone goes in the middle of the night and I lose my ability to find a matching pair of socks." She laughed properly this time "in fact, I'm not even sure they're both _mine._ And my hair… well, I've seen tidier scarecrows to be honest. I bet you're _really_ glad you came back to this mess, huh?"

Robin wanted to beg her to stop putting herself down. He didn't care if she thought her hair was a mess. He didn't care whether her socks matched or whether they were sworn enemies, about to pull each other's yarn out to the death at any moment. He didn't care if the sleeves of his shirt hung over her hands and fell back down every time she tried to push them away. The only thing she cared about was seeing her; staring at her face and committing every inch to memory.

He'd feared that he would never see her again. Now he had? He swore he was never, _ever_ going to look away again.

_**~xXx~**_

_**A/N: All too slushy! Don't worry, more angst and trauma in the next chapter :D**_


	4. Chapter 3: Banish the Bad Stuff

**Chapter Three**

She'd made Kim's life a nightmare. Now she was bringing actual nightmares to her sleep, too.

X

It was amazing how quickly a day went by; even more amazing considering the fact that their conversations were all one-sided. Talking to him about anything and everything under the sun, Kim had refused to leave Robin's bedside for almost the whole day. After waiting for so long to have him back there was no way she was going to leave his side. The only times she'd made a speedy exit were when she realised the hospital café was about to close and she needed to get something to eat to quieten her noisy stomach and when she had to succumb to the call of nature and find the toilet. Despite attempts from the doctors to make her go home and rest she had her own ideas and made a make-shift bed beside Robin's with several chairs she'd managed to poach from other rooms.

"There are going to be a lot of relatives sitting on the floor, put it that way," she'd told him with very little shame. She had, however, flushed an interesting colour when she stole a chair from a room that had once belonged to Alex and noticed that it still had a highly suspicious stain.

She hadn't even wanted to go to sleep but she's been awake for almost 24 hours and her eyes were closing involuntarily now. Finally she conceded and curled up the best she could on her makeshift bed beside him.

"Goodnight, Rob," She'd whispered as she stroked his hair away from his eyes with a smile.

Just before one in the morning, Robin finally found his voice.

"Goodnight, Kim," he whispered back.

~x~

Her mind was awash with nightmares; forgotten moments that had caused her sadness in years gone by rehashed to reflect the worries that were currently on her mind.

She wasn't sure exactly when her relationship with Linda had gone so badly awry although, when she thought back, she realised that it was never really ideal. She knew that some of that was her own fault, unintentionally so. She had never been the same after her coma and, until she met Robin, she'd never been able to truly love someone since she had been pulled away from Shaz. She had spent a long time hoping that was going to change but when it didn't she believed that she was simply broken and settled for what she could get.

Whether she'd ever been truly happy with Linda was a difficult one to answer because a fairer question was whether she had ever been truly happy, full stop. She was a changed person after leaving Gene's world. There was a part of her that had simply died and she just couldn't 'feel' in the same way she had before. She never smiled. Not really. Every relationship she tried to enter failed miserably because she didn't have the love and warmth to commit. She didn't have the passion either. Bedroom shenanigans were empty and unfulfilling from the moment she lost Shaz. Suddenly she found it impossible to climax through the touch of another and usually had to complete the task herself with her memories of a pretty brunette she'd left behind in 1996. No amount of under-the-bed equipment, nor her vast porn collection, had ever remedied the situation.

Emotionally too she could never really find fulfilment in a relationship. The love and passion she'd felt for Shaz was simply never present and her relationships just fizzled away to nothing.

Perhaps, Kim often thought to herself, the only reason her relationship with Linda lasted as long as it did was because Linda never really had that much of a heart. Perhaps Kim's coldness went unnoticed because Linda wasn't exactly a bearer of passion and romance either. Their relationship had developed like a business meeting; sitting down and making planned decisions instead of romantic gestures. There had been no big proposal, just a list of pros and cons about getting married. The choice to start a family was made with rosters about who was going to get up in the middle of the night and whether they needed a child for fulfilment purposes rather than loving each other enough to know that they wanted to cement that love by sharing it with a child. It wasn't until she met Robin that Kim even realised ]things had always been wrong.

Linda hadn't been so spiteful at the beginning, Kim was fairly sure. It had been a slow decline – starting with nit-picking, becoming harsh criticism and finally turning into out and out bullying. Robin had helped her to see that and given her he strength and the motivation to break free.

But she was never truly free of the memory of some of Linda's words. Kim had taken so many years of criticism that despite her tough outer shell inside she was highly insecure about herself. He appearance, her manners, her personality - they'd all come under fire. After listening for years to the things that Linda disliked she'd taken many of them so deeply to heart that it was difficult to reprogram her mind.

The shock discovery of her pregnancy had brought back a lot of memories, mostly from carrying her boys; the boys she was now only allowed to see every other weekend and for two weeks in the summer. It was a cruel and devastating outcome for someone who'd done everything she could to carry the children safely for nine months apiece.

So many of Linda's comments had started to come back to Kim in flashbacks; her criticisms, her spite, the fact that she couldn't have been less involved with the actual pregnancies if she tried.

Linda had most definitely wanted children. Apparently what she didn't want was to live with a puking, swelling, growing, exhausted Kim for nine months.

Kim remembered some of the spiteful comments Linda had made during the hideous morning sickness she had suffered; statements such as having anther bathroom built on the house so that Kim could live in it were not helpful, ones about being sick of running the household so that Kim could spend the day with her head down the toilet were even less so. When Kim had ended up in hospital with dehydration, the list of inconveniences caused by her being away from the house ran into almost triple figures.

There were other complaints too. Every time Kim was upset there would be an eye-roll and a muttered comment about her being over-emotional. If Kim was exhausted from the baby taking up all her energy then Linda labelled her lazy. When she dared to rub her aching back or to stretch out her legs to tend to her swollen ankles the response was tutting and mumbled comments under her breath about _some people_ exaggerating and attention-seeking.

But the part that had cut Kim most deeply were Linda's comments about her changing body. She had always known that her body would never be the same; she had always known that things were going to change, but to Kim that was all a part of it. It was something she wanted to experience; something she _needed_ to after what she had been though with her miscarriage in Gene's world. Kim thought there was little more attractive than the changing shape and growing belly of a pregnant woman, but Linda didn't seem to agree.

Didn't want to touch her… never wanted to feel the bump… didn't want to explore her changing terrain as she grew. Instead all she heard were comments about what parts of her seemed to be growing too much, that her bulk wasn't leaving enough room in bed for Linda to get a good night's sleep, hints about joining exercise classes and going on diets as soon as the baby had arrived and words that were not only wrong and inappropriate but downright devastating. Linda didn't seem to know the difference between being fat and being pregnant and - after being told how much weight she was putting on, on an almost daily basis - neither could Kim.

For so many years she had fought to push Linda's comments out of her mind. Now suddenly they were all flooding back.

She awoke with a gasp and a sob after Linda's words had filled her sleep. Her hand moved protectively downwards to caress her bump as she breathed heavily, trying to recover from her nightmare. She glanced at Robin, relieved to find him still sleeping soundly beside her. She felt a horrible sense of anxiety growing inside her. There was a part of her that knew it was stupid, but her history overruled her common sense. All of Linda's old criticisms, her harsh words and her distance from Kim's pregnancies came flooding back with a crippling fear of history repeating.

She watched Robin's chest rise and fall as he slept, a peaceful look upon his face and a faint smile on his lips. She still didn't know if he knew yet. She knew there was a good chance that Alex would have told him, even if he hadn't already seen a message for himself. But she had never spoken to Alex about whether or not to tell Robin when she made it home so she couldn't be sure.

What if he _didn't_ know? All the promises he'd made about the way things were going to be, all the things he swore he would do differently to Linda if they were lucky enough for Kim to fall pregnant – what if he changed his mind? What if he freaked out or didn't feel the way that he thought he would about her now she was pregnant? She didn't think she could take that kind of rejection. Not again. Not from Robin.

Angry to find herself becoming tearful again she climbed down from her makeshift bed and hurried to the toilets. She quickly splashed a little water on her face at the sink, feeling so angry that her history with Linda had given her worries and fears that she otherwise would never have suffered.

She dried her face on a handful of paper towels and walked slowly back to Robin's hospital room. Much to her surprise she found his eyes open and staring at her empty makeshift bed.

"Hey," she sad quickly as she hurried towards him, the fact that he was awake momentarily overruling her fears, "sorry Rob, I just went to the loo," she saw his lips move but he couldn't seem to say what was on his mind. "What?" she whispered. She watched his lips moving again although no sound seemed to be emerging from his lips. She frowned –he'd been able to speak a few hours earlier. "Rob, I can't hear you," she said as he tried again, this time using his fingers to beckon her closer. Feeling a little concerned about his sudden lack of voice she leaned towards him, cocking her ear to his lips to listen to what he was trying to say. "What is it?" she asked quietly.

With her head to one sided she didn't see the slight smile that came across his face as his plan came to fruition and her body was finally close enough for his limited movement to carry out his goal. Moving his arm as far and as fast as he was able he reached out and pressed his fingers to her stomach, a gesture that took her so much by surprise that she gasped and drew back without thinking. Her eyes opened wide and inside her head alarms and warning signals started to go off, panicking about everything she'd had running through her mind.

"_Rob –"_ she began, not even knowing where her sentence was leading. She stared at him with anxious eyes and her hands clasped over her stomach, oblivious to his fingers begging her with a beckoning signal to move closer again. "I… I mean," she wasn't sure what to do; whether to come straight out and tell him, whether to ask him if he knew already – her mind turned to mush, but luckily he took away the dilemma with a tired smile and a whisper.

_"I know, Kim,"_ he breathed.

Kim froze, swallowing back the nerves that were still swarming around her.

"You do?" she found herself whispering as his head nodded so slightly.

"_I saw you,"_ he whispered, "_a message_." His fingers beckoned her again but she found herself terrified that he'd be repelled by the changes. It had taken them both long enough to get past the shock of adapting to touching the body of a member of the opposite sex without running away, scared of every squidgy bit encountered. How was Robin ever going to cope with her body changing and growing? Suddenly rejection scared her half to death, but there was something about the look on Robin's eyes that started to push it away. With the tips of his fingers he just about managed to catch the material of the bottom of her shirt – _his_ shirt – and twisted it around them so that he could get a better grip to gently pull her back towards him.

"_I know,"_ he whispered again, "_needed to feel it, Kim."_

"What?"

"_Needed to feel it for myself,"_ he pulled her reluctant body closer as she hesitated, shook and protested.

"Rob, you don't have to," she stammered, "if you can't handle it… I mean, if you don't like it. I mean, I-I know it must look like I suddenly got fat, I'm just… I'm almost sixteen weeks and you show quicker when you've already had… I mean…"

Robin felt his eyes close as he blocked out her blind panic with the slightest hint of a laugh.

"_Kim?"_ he whispered, "_shut up."_ He moved very slowly onto his side and while one hand reached again towards her belly the other gripped her shirt a little higher to pull her face towards him. The slow and tender kiss that he gave her ceased her fretting in more ways than one; silencing her with his lips while calming her fears and showing her that his thoughts couldn't be further away from Linda's.

The tiny movements that Kim felt inside her weren't strong enough for Robin to feel yet but they came in time to his gently touch, as if the baby knew he was there. She felt herself moving closer towards him until she'd joined him on his bed, right on the edge and in serious danger of falling to the ground but there by his side. With all they had gone through, there was nowhere else she'd rather have been.


	5. Chapter 4: On The Other Side

_**A/N: Sorry for neglecting this fic terribly; I haven't been in a fluff kind of a mood and SOMEHOW have ended up shipping Kim with someone else too much (How did that happen then?) so I couldn't get focused on this one all week but finally got in the right frame of mind to finish this chapter :)**_

**~xXx~**

**Chapter Four**

Robin wasn't sure what time it was but he was fairly sure someone was going to come along and disturb them soon. Either he was going to have a thermometer shoved somewhere unpleasant or the _go-home-and-have-a-shower_ brigade would be after Kim. He stroked her hair as she lay by his side, somehow managing to stay on the edge of the hospital bed without falling out, her forehead pressed against his and her eyes closed contentedly.

"Kim?" he said quietly.

She breathed out with a peaceful sigh, almost on the brink of drifting into a shallow sleep.

"_Hmm?"_ she said with a sleepy smile.

"Better get up soon," Robin warned her quietly.

"No," Kim said simply as though it had been a question rather than a statement.

"Doctors will come," Robin told her, "make you get out of bed."

"No," Kim sighed peacefully again.

"Don't you want breakfast?" Robin asked her.

Kim just moved a little closer.

"No," she said.

"Your stomach does, I've been listening to it for an hour."

"You should be used to that by now," Kim said simply, her expression never changed. _Rats_. That was his last attempt at saving her bacon from medical professionals on the war path. So much for her usual embarrassment. Apparently nothing was going to shift her out of bed.

"Fine, I won't save you from the docs then," Robin said, closing his eyes and drawing a little closer still. He hadn't wanted to get rid of her in the first place, he just didn't want to see her get a telling off. It seemed it was already too late anyway as a few moments later a doctor arrived in the doorway. Robin heard her footsteps before he saw her. As soon as he realised they'd been sprung he closed his eyes tightly to pretend to be asleep.

_"Mister Thomas,"_ she began. Uh oh. Well, that wasn't good for a start. That tone spoke of trouble. "Your excellent recovery seems to have hit a snag," She paused, "in that you've grown an extra head." She paused. "And an extra set of arms." She paused one more time. "And breasts."

Finally Robin opened one eye.

"Have not," he mumbled.

The doctor tapped Kim on the shoulder.

"Come on." She said, "up you get."

Kim slowly opened her eyes and gave a reluctant groan.

"Just a few more minutes," she begged.

"You've got the rest of your lives to sneak into hospital beds together," the doctor told her, "right now I need to check Robin over to make sure he's doing OK."

"He does better when I'm in bed with him," Kim tried to argue but the doctor wasn't having any of it.

"Go and have some breakfast in the canteen and by the time you come back I'll be out of your hair," the doctor told her.

Kim gave a frustrated sigh as she slowly climbed off the bed, weaving a little. She was lightheaded from lack of sleep and lack of food and she supposed she really should get something to eat. Reluctant to leave him alone, she took his hand for a moment and looked him in the eye.

"I'll be back soon," she told him.

Robin zoned out as doctors and nurses checked him over and commented on his progress. He couldn't get his mind on anything but Kim and the baby. He lay back, smiling like a fool as various medical professionals chattered around him, making notes and waffling about his current condition.

By the time they were preparing to leave Kim returned, looking worse than when she'd left.

"Ugh," she groaned, "what passes for breakfast in this place passes for bedding in the pet shop. I swear they had a choice of three kinds of sawdust at the counter."

Robin turned to her and smiled.

"Sorry," he said.

"Just hurry up and get better," Kim told him, "I need your cooking. I can't support myself, you know that! I'm next to useless in the kitchen. Fry ups and cornflakes are my limit."

"Makes a change from beans though?" asked Robin and Kim laughed. She hung her head as she sat down by the bed.

"Rob, I'm so sorry about all that crap," she sighed, "I feel awful for how much I wound you up about it. The beans and the other stuff."

"It's alright," Robin smiled. He was getting his speech together now but his voice was still quiet, "not your fault."

"And I'm sorry I tried to send you to a psychologist for your _deep-rooted desire to be pregnant,_" Kim said sheepishly.

"You're not the only one who thought I was going crazy," Robin promised her. He smiled as she decided to climb back onto the bed and lay beside him again. "And besides, I've had a valuable insight into what it's like to be a pregnant woman now." He moved his hand slowly forward to rest is fingers against her stomach. While she felt an initial moment of panic it soon faded away even though she still felt self-conscious. "Did you really not know?" he whispered.

Kim's expression was full of embarrassment.

"You'd think I'd have noticed, wouldn't you?" she said sheepishly, "but, no. I was too busy worrying about you knitting booties and eating the entire baked bean supply of Fenchurch."

"Oh _god_," Robin groaned, "I'm never going to live it down. Someone changed the name on my door from Chief Inspector to _Bean_ Inspector."

Kim sniggered and slapped her hand over her mouth when she saw the mortified look on Robin's face.

"I'm sorry, Rob," she said, not looking sorry in the slightest, "I'm sure they'll forget all about it by the time you go back."

Robin looked a little sad.

"When's that going to be?" he said quietly, "when am I going to get out of here?"

Kim wished that she had answers for him but knew there was still a question mark over how much permanent damage there was going to be. There was a very real possibility that Robin was going to be tied to a desk job for the rest of his life.

"As soon as we can get you out, we will," she promised him.

It was the first time she'd seen him looking scared since he woke up.

"I _am_ getting out, aren't I?" he asked quietly.

Kim hated to see that look on his face. She wished that she had good news to impart or could put his mind at rest but she had no idea how quickly he was going to recover.

"Rob, you're making good progress," she told him softly as she ran her fingers through his hair, "however long it takes you'll be coming home and we'll make sure it's as soon as you're ready.

"I'm ready _now_."

"I don't think your doctors would agree."

"Because _you_ always take note of medical advice, right?"

Kim gave a wry smile. He definitely had her there.

"Let's just pretend that we do and I don't threaten to jam medical instruments where the sun doesn't shine to get myself discharged, OK?" she said.

Robin laughed and closed his eyes.

"It's like being engaged to Gene Hunt," he whispered which earned him a gentle but firm clout around the head. "Even more so now!"

Kim tried to fix him in a glare but it didn't last long and soon she found herself smiling again instead. She looked him in the eye and could see there was so much he wanted to tell her. She ran a finger up and down his face as she whispered.

"So. You were _there_, huh?"

Robin nodded slowly. He didn't need to ask where.

"I was."

Kim breathed in very deeply and let her breath back out as a quiet sigh. There were so many things she wanted to know, so much she wanted to ask.

"When were you there?" she asked eventually, "I mean, what month… year…?"

"It was January," Robin whispered, "ninety seven."

"What were things like?" Kim whispered.

Robin felt oddly emotional as he looked at her. He remembered what it was like coming back from Gene's world the first time and not being able to talk about it. The fact that Kim was able to listen to him and understand what it was like was the biggest luxury he could have asked for.

"Things were strained," he whispered, "think the world had been going through some changes."

Kim's expression changed a little.

"I didn't think you would ever come back," she whispered, "I knew if you went there then you and Simon –" she stopped talking as she watched him slowly shake his head.

"No," he whispered.

"With all your history –"

She saw Robin's eyes slowly glisten with tears that he tried to hold back.

"That's all it was," he whispered, "_history_." He swallowed. It was so hard to admit the truth.

"I thought you were supposed to be together forever," Kim whispered.

"We _were_," Robin said quietly, "_once_. But things change." His hand slowly ran along her side, then back don her arm where he eventually found her hand. "Maybe if I hadn't met _you_… I don't know." He closed his eyes, "Probably still be there now."

Kim wasn't used to feeling this way; like her chest was about to explode from the racing of her heart and the warmth that surrounded her with his words. She had been a cold fish for so many years. She really didn't understand what she had been missing until she met Robin and their lives were turned upside down. The thought that he had chosen to come back to her rather than to stay with Simon was still one she was finding hard to truly believe.

"Did you tell him?" she whispered, "about us?"

She watched him nod; his expression sad and pained.

"He didn't take it well, "he said quietly.

Kim looked down. She still regarded Simon as one of the best friends she'd ever had. The last thing she wanted was for him to be hurt by their relationship.

"I'm so sorry, Rob."

"He's changed, a lot. Robin said quietly, "I suppose with everything he's been through its natural. I wasn't expecting him to be exactly the same, but…" he closed his eyes for a moment, "there were parts of his personality I hardly recognised. He's lost his fight. He's so bitter. A-and I know some of that was my fault. I mean, it must have been the biggest shock…"

"He was the one who told you he wanted you to meet someone," Kim reminded him.

"I think he regretted doing that," Robin whispered, "he made a mistake. He wanted me to wait for him."

"And if you had?" Kim said quietly, "do you think you would have just…" she flinched even asking it, "…picked up where you left off?"

Robin stared at her. It felt as though minutes passed as his mind went over and over that question but finally he felt himself shaking his head.

"I don't think so," he whispered.

That surprised Kim.

"You don't?"

Robin squeezed her hand gently.

"Sometimes people change too much," he whispered, "they grow apart. And it hurts, and it's sad but when you lead your separate lives and you go through… through _so_ much… it changes you. And all you have left between you is… is what you used to be." He looked her in the eye. "I was shocked, Kim. Shocked by how weakened he'd been by that place." He looked down, not wanting to sound like he was boasting but unsure how else to phrase it, "and I don't think he knew how to cope with me being so much stronger. He was used to being the protector."

"You don't need protecting from anything, Rob," Kim told him.

"Apart from you," Robin couldn't resist teasing.

"Apart from me," Kim agreed. She smiled as he laughed gently. She'd missed that so much.

"We cleared the air a little," Robin told her quietly, "on the way to Manchester."

"Manchester?" Kim frowned.

"Chasing Layton," Robin explained, "trying to get me home." He looked distant. "I'm so glad we parted on better terms. I think… he _tried_ to understand."

"Does he hate me? Kim whispered. Robin was a little taken aback by the question.

"No, Kim, he doesn't hate you," he promised her, "He actually thinks he let you down."

"What? When?" she frowned, "how?

"When you went home" Robin told her, "he got there too late. He was supposed to have been the one to send you on, instead of Alex."

"_Alex –"_ Kim swallowed as she felt a jolt in the chest where he heart picked up speed when she heard her name. She swallowed and tried to run her tongue around her lips as they grew increasingly dry. "Rob, did she make it back? Please tell me she made it back."

"She did," he nodded, "she did," he couldn't understand the sudden deterioration in Kim's demeanour right before him, "Kim?" he felt quite concerned. The mention of Alex's name had set off within her myriad motions that he wasn't anticipating, "what's wrong?"

"Thank god she made it back," Kim whispered, "I was so scared in case something had gone wrong, after –" she trailed away as she found herself unable to finish that sentence.

"Kim?" Robin looked at her anxiously. He placed his hand on her shoulder and held he as tightly as he could in his weakened state, "Kim, what's the matter?"

"Did she tell you how she made it back?" she whispered.

Robin frowned as he thought about it. He knew Layton was involved but that was as much as he'd heard.

"Not very much, no," he said.

Kim nodded as she looked down, every breath threatening to turn into a sob. This wasn't like her at all, not in the slightest, and his worry was growing.

"Things were hard after you were shot, Rob," she whispered, "we both felt… both _knew_… things had gone wrong and you were over there by mistake, instead of her. So we had to keep on fighting, trying to find a way." She drew in a deep breath, "and we got close, Rob, we were _really_…" she closed her eyes as she talked herself to a standstill and bit down hard on her lip, unable to go on for fear of letting the tears out. She felt Robin's hand rubbing her shoulder gently.

"How did she get back?" Robin asked her in a whisper.

Kim looked down and choked back a sob.

"I can still see it when I close my eyes," she whispered, "he'd shot her… and drugged her… but it wasn't enough, it wasn't… and she needed to get back, she had no choice… she needed to get home." she pulled in her breath as her eyes spilled over, "so I had to… had to help her…"

"Like…" Robin frowned, unsure what she meant, "like I helped her back before?"

He watched Kim shaking her head.

"I had to do more than that, Rob," she whispered.

"You –"

Robin stared at her and watched her face crumble as she dissolved into tears, the enormous pressure and trauma of the way she'd had to help Alex home had been gradually destroying her from the inside out and now she couldn't hold the flood back a moment longer. He had never seen her cry so hard before. He'd never seen her so deeply affected by anything that she'd had to do. And in those tears he could understand what she wasn't saying. He felt himself shaking as he held her.

There was so much more she needed to tell him. So much that she needed to explain. But she wasn't ready for that yet. So she just lay and cried, letting his arms take away some of the anguish she felt every time she flashed back to holding that tarpaulin over her closest friend's face and watched her slowly dying in front of her.

She needed to tell Robin so much more. But it would have to wait.

_One step at a time._


	6. Chapter 5: The Return Journey

_**A/N: I'm sorry, I've neglected this fic for a long time, the last month or so has been difficult and I just couldn't write anything edging toward fluff. But definitely in a fluffier mood right now – what could have gotten**_** into me? - so here's the next chapter!**

**~xXx~**

**Chapter 5**

Robin watched sadly as Kim picked at a couple of dry biscuits, nibbling on the edges.

"I thought you'd escaped without a lot of morning sickness," he said quietly.

Kim gave him a tiny smile, her skin looking paler than usual.

"For the most part I have," she said quietly, "I'm just feeling it a bit this afternoon. That's all."

"That's looking at my ugly mug," Robin teased and Kim gave him a tired smile. He wished that he could do more than just lie there. He felt so useless. He had been so dead set on the idea of looking after Kim if she conceived. Knowing how bad her pregnancies had been while she was with her ex-wife all Robin wanted was to give her a happy nine months under his watchful eye. He wanted to take care of her every step of the way; to protect her, to dote on her, to give her everything she needed. Instead held taken a bullet in the back and missed out on so much already.

He knew she usually suffered much worse than this with the sickness. He'd seen it for himself. He knew that this was mild for Kim but he still wished he could take it away from her. There seemed to be so much troubling her too. He began to think about her strained reaction when he'd told her Alex has made it back. He knew what she was saying. She'd had to take a very drastic step to help Alex home. He knew she wasn't ready to talk about it yet and he couldn't blame her for that.

"Rob?" Kim's voice seemed unusually quiet.

"Hmm?" he smiled as he looked at her. Just being back with her made him do that, no matter what the subject was at hand.

"How did you get back?" Kim asked him. She hesitated and he knew that she had more to say before he could answer. "It was… you only just made it, you know that? Bloody Layton was here. He was going to –"

"I know," Robin said quietly "I could hear him," he strained to move a little, "in my head. I heard him here, talking about me. How much he hated me. He was saying some very strange things."

"He's Layton, that's what he does," Kim tried to joke but her heart wasn't in it. She looked at him seriously. "What did you have to do to make it home? She whispered.

Robin felt the atmosphere darkening.

"Layton was… active in both places," he said quietly, "In ninety seven he was trying to pick up a bunch of work from Nailer's old system. But his drugs were tainted. People died."

"He'd been in hiding here," Kim said quietly, "He took an overdose in prison. Escaped." She paused, "Alex probably told you about that."

Robin closed his eyes for a moment. He knew Alex had told them some details about the way in which she found her way back to 1997 but he also knew that there were many things she hadn't felt able to reveal.

"Some," he said quietly. He took a deep breath and thought back to the events of his final night in the nineties. "I'd been hearing him on and off for an hour… suddenly his words… they were clearer." He looked at her darkly. "He was going to kill me. And I couldn't..." he paused as the anxiety made him short of breath, "couldn't let him do that –"

"Rob, it's OK," Kim put down her biscuits and move closet to him, reaching for his hand, "if it's too much to think about right now –"

"No, it's… it's OK," he closed his eyes, "they said there was nothing they could do. Said that nothing could change the way things were happening out here. But Simon…_Simon_ of all people… he remembered something that Gene Hunt told him once. About Sam Tyler changing things." He began to find it difficult to take in enough oxygen as he breathed a little more deeply. "He promised he'd help me. There were reports of Layton heading north. To Manchester."

Kim closed her eyes.

"Bloody Manchester again," she sighed, "why do all roads lead to Manchester?"

Robin didn't have an answer for her. It did seem as though all the action seemed to end up focusing there.

"We traced him to this building and I went after him. We had back-up from the local station but…" he hesitated, "this was my call."

Kim could see how difficult this was. She slowly climbed onto the bed and lay beside him, her voice only a whisper.

"What happened?"

"I saw him. He was trying… trying to get away. To escape. I chased him back towards the building and he ran inside. I followed him, and it was so… _so_ dark. And then suddenly…"

Kim pressed her forehead against his as she closed her eyes.

"Suddenly it grew light," she whispered, "didn't it?"

Robin nodded.

"I remembered it. From when I woke up before." He looked her in the eye. "I knew I was coming home." He watched a smile break out across her face, echoed by his own.

"I was so scared," she told him, "I thought I'd lost you forever. I didn't think you were ever going to come back."

"How could I not?" Robin whispered, smiling, but his eyes were starting to close.

"Shit, Rob, you must be exhausted" Kim started to feel guilty suddenly. She'd kept him talking for hours. She ran her fingers though his hair and gently laid a kiss on his forehead. "Get some sleep."

"I'm fine," Robin lied, knowing he could fall asleep at any second.

"Get some sleep and I will too," Kim told him. She was feeling almost as exhausted as Robin. He hesitated at first but when he saw her eyelids looking heavy too he nodded slowly and gave a slight smile.

"Alright," he said "but you'd better still be here when I wake up."

"At least this time I know you _will_ be waking up," she said.

Robin was about to reply but he felt so very drained that his words faded into a murmur and he was asleep before he knew it. Kim smiled with a warm feeling setting in her heart as she watched him dosing, she might have been feeling a little queasy that day but the sight of Robin back home with her and doing so well could cure all ills.

~xXx~

Robin's eyes opened slowly as he awoke. The room took a few moments to come into focus but soon the brightness the hospital room filled his vision. He could feel someone holding his hand and looked around to see Kim on the bed still beside him. She caught his eyes with a smile as she continued to play with his ring.

"I hope you didn't mind," she said quietly, "it's just I never got to give you this in person…so I had to put it on you while you were –" her voice choked a little, "-sleeping."

"It came through," he whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"The ring," Robin paused as he remembered waking up one morning to find an added piece of jewellery on his finger while he was still in Gene's world, "I don't know how. But it came through."

It was a very strange thing to happen, not least of all because while other things seemed to have been flitting back and forth between worlds the ring seemed to exist in both places. Gene's fiat, Alex's desk, the scan picture – they all disappeared from one world when they entered another, but the ring seemed to manage to be in both places at once.

"I didn't know whether I should put it on your finger without your permission," she said quietly, "I mean, you never said yes…"

"Neither did you and you're wearing yours," Robin smiled dryly. Kim felt her cheeks warming with a blush as she stared down at her hands, "So I take it you guessed what it was for, since you've got it on the right finger?"

"They found it in your possession when they brought you in," she told him, "they gave me a bag of your stuff. And Alex… she told me she had a conversation with you at Christmas. About getting married." She looked at him nervously. "I just hoped I wasn't jumping to conclusions."

Robin's smile was broadening.

"You weren't," he promised her.

She looked down at her own finger, turning the ring around and around. She couldn't believe that finally he was back; the man who'd bought her the ring.

"It's perfect," she told him.

"The bloody shop owner…" Robin began, sighing, "Had a go. Said it was too masculine."

"Obviously she had never met me," Kim commented. She laughed a little. "Can you see me as the diamond solitaire type?"

Robin smiled.

"No, I cannot," he told her.

Kim linked her fingers between Robin's; their fingers locked together and theirrings touching finally.

"How would you have done it?" Kim asked.

"Done what?"

"Asked me?" Kim said, almost shyly. She almost didn't want to ask him that. She knew that _she_ didn't even know where or when or how she was going to propose to Robin so she shouldn't have assumed that he would have had any more defined idea than she did but before she could tell him it didn't matter and he didn't have to answer he said quickly,

"The station."

"What?" Kim asked quietly.

"Was going to ask you at the station," Robin whispered, "I was going to take you to the roof. Just you and me."

"And push me over the edge, Kim teased but he could see she didn't mean it.

"Not sure when I would have asked," he whispered, "but I wouldn't have left it too long. Knew worlds were coming closer. Didn't want to lose my chance." He flinched, "didn't realise that moment was so much closer than I thought though."

"Hey," Kim began firmly, "It's OK. You're back. You made it home. That's what's important."

He closed his eyes as she drew closer and wrapped an arm around him as she laid against his chest. That filled him with warmth and comfort, but there was something nagging away at his mind. He felt it choking him a little as he whispered,

"Kim?"

"Yes?"

He paused.

"What happened with Alex?"

She seemed to stiffen in his grasp.

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

"How did you… help her home?"

She relaxed a little and whispered, "Oh…" as though that wasn't the question she'd been expecting, She hesitated, torn between telling him the details of the tragic moment that would haunt her forever or sparing him from knowing and from having to think of it every time he looked at her. She must have been silent for so long that Robin took matters into his own hands.

"Kim? Please?" he whispered, "It's me. You know you can tell me." He paused. "You had to…" he stopped for a moment as he drew in his breath "You had to _do_ it, didn't you?" he moved back to look at her, "you had to…" he flinched as he tried to make himself say the words, "…to kill her."

Kim's while expression froze while the rest of her body began to shake. The anguish welled up inside of her all over again as she whispered,

"I had to, Rob. I _had_ to. She had to get home, and…"

"_I know, I know,"_ Robin moved closer again to hold her.

"She couldn't take her own life," Kim whispered, shaking with every word, "you know what happens to suicides."

"I know."

"She'd have spent the rest of her life rotting in Fenchurch West," Kim whispered, aware that tears were starting to build again, "it's the most terrible thing I've ever done, Rob, and I can't bear it. I can't bear the thought that I –"

"You _had_ to do it,"

"But I _killed_ her," Kim wept so quietly and Robin's heart broke to hear it.

"Kim," he whispered, "she's home. She's back where she belongs. With Gene, at Fenchurch East. She's with her friends and colleagues again. She's got her life back. Thanks to you."

But Kim was still trembling and hiccupped with tears as she tried to draw in her breath.

"I used… I…" she flinched, "I suffocated her," she whispered, terrified someone might hear but the room and the corridor were empty, "it was the only thing there… the tarpaulin... she was _begging_ me to help her, Robin. Begging me to help her home…"

"I know," Robin's own tears started to fall.

"It was the most terrible moment of my life," she whispered, "apart from when you were shot. "

"But you did a good thing, Kim." Robin promised her, "She's back home. That's where she needed to be."

"But it hurts so much to think about it," Kim whispered, "it's tearing me in two. I know she had to get back but doing it… holding it over her face… k-killing her –"

"You didn't kill her, Kim, you helped her to _live_. To get back to her life."

Kim swallowed. She nodded as she tried to see things that way; she knew that he was right. But the sight of Alex's body lying there as she finally removed the tarpaulin would never cease to haunt her.

"I miss her so much," she whispered, "I know she's where she belongs, but with the way that she went, and after we –" she paused and froze up suddenly. Robin felt her tense in his arms again. He frowned. That wasn't like Kim.

"What's wrong? He asked.

She seemed to hesitate.

"Nothing, Rob," she whispered.

Robin drew back and looked at her but suddenly she wouldn't meet his eye.

"What is it, Kim?" he asked again, "what's wrong?" she looked awkwardly at the bed, "come on, Kim, I know you. I know when something's wrong." He paused, "something about Alex? Did something happen while I was over there?" he saw her twitching uncomfortably and her expression changed, she started to look terribly haunted. "Kim, what is it? Come on, you know you can tell me anything. What's happened?"

Biting her lip, she finally looked up at him. There was a look of awkwardness and guilt across her features. She chewed ferociously on her lip before she finally whispered,

"Rob, something _did_ happen while you were away."

He expected her to go on but she trailed off.

"Go on."

Kim looked away. This wasn't going to be easy.

"It's something," she whispered, "that I really need to tell you." She paused, "and I really don't know where to start."

**~xXx~**

_**A/N: Far too fluffy, I know… next chapter will be far more angsty! Thank you so much for reading. I love to hear your thoughts and reviews if you have a moment, and it will definitely encourage me to update more often and stop neglecting this fic! :)**_


	7. Chapter 6: Reveals and Reactions

**Chapter 6**

Robin stared at Kim as she drew away from him. Her whole expression was different; tense, almost as he'd never seen it before.

"Kim, what is it?" he asked quietly. She looked away, her eyes shifting from one place to another, anything so that she didn't have to look at Robin. She couldn't bring herself to. She felt so guilty all of a sudden. That wasn't to say that she regretted her actions because no matter what she couldn't bring herself to regret a night that had been so special, so warm and so clearly needed by two very lost, lonely souls. But she didn't want to hurt Robin. Not for a moment.

"It happened," she said quietly, "while you were _over there."_ She made it sound a little as though he'd been on holiday, "it was just one night..." she bit her lip as she recalled things going on a little longer than expected, "and one day." She swallowed and glanced at him. "Alex…" she began before she trailed away.

There was a pause. Kim knew it was dumb to leave it hanging there but there was a part of her that just hoped he would guess although how he'd get it from that she didn't know. He stared at her expectantly but an explanation didn't come.

"Alex?" he repeated eventually, "what happened? Was it something to do with sending her home?"

"No," Kim looked down, "it was one night. We…" she swallowed and took a deep breath but couldn't persuade the words to come firth.

"Did you have a fight?" Robin asked quietly.

"No," Kim said quickly, "no, nothing like that" she added silently that it was more like the opposite but didn't say it out loud. "Oh god, Rob," she whispered.

"You're shaking," Robin said quietly as he laid a hand on her trembling arm.

She moved back just a little, feeling too guilty to let him touch her and closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath as she whispered,

"Rob, I don't know how to say this." She looked back at him but couldn't look him in the eye. "We slept together," the words came out like water flowing from a spilt bottle, once they were out there was no returning them.

A moment passed. One second, two, three, four…. Finally her eyes rose back to Robin's face. She watched his expression and tried to work out what he was thinking. He seemed awfully silent but she couldn't read his mien. She silent urged him to respond. Her guilt was crushing her, welling up inside of her chest. Finally his mouth opened just a crack and hung there. She thought he was about to speak but the silence remained for several moments until, finally he asked,

"You mean… she slept… in _bed_ with you?" he paused, "or that what you were doing in the bed together… wasn't… sleeping?"

Kim looked down and closed her eyes.

"Robin, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

There was more silence. The silence was hurting her more than any combination of words. It hurt her more than screaming or yelling at her would. She stared into his eyes finally but this time it was him who wasn't meeting her gaze,

"I don't think… don't think I understand how that's happened?" he whispered eventually.

"Makes two of us," Kim tried to joke but neither of them were laughing.

"But _Alex,"_ Robin felt his lips go dry. He ran his tongue along them but it didn't seem to do a lot of good. "What about Gene?"

Kim's stomach churned and bubbled with anxiety. If she hadn't already have been feeling nauseous then she surely would by now. She looked down and tried to keep her voice from trembling as she said quietly,

"Rob, I think she was giving up hope of getting home. And I was giving up hope of you coming back to me." Her eyes flickered to him for a moment as she whispered, "I really thought you were going to pick him, Robin. _Simon_. I thought for sure you were staying there. Weeks passed and you weren't showing any signs of waking up. I was trying to cope with all this on my own… being pregnant, helping Alex… And Alex had seen you pretty much taking her place. She was _sure_ she was supposed to go back that day but the bullet found you instead. Those aren't excuses, they're reasons." She felt herself shaking as the full truth began to spill from her lips and the anguish she'd felt while Robin was gone forced its way out of her. "I felt _so low_, Rob, so very, very low. I was so depressed. You were supposed to be looking after me… You said that if we were really lucky and I got pregnant again you'd take care of me and look after me, and you weren't here. That's not your fault… there was nothing you could do to change things and I know now you were fighting to get back, but…"

Robin swallowed as he watched her trail away. Her expression was so dark and sad, he wasn't sure how he could take that away.

"But what?" he asked quietly.

Kim took in a deep breath, staggered by the tears that threatened to break free.

"I felt like a fucking beached whale," she whispered.

"Like a what?" Robin wasn't sure he'd heard right.

Her eyes turned to him slowly, They were sad, guilty and full of hidden pain.

"I felt like a beached whale," she whispered, "you've seen the state of me."

"State of… Kim, what do you mean _state…?"_

"I was only twelve weeks and I felt huge," Kim swallowed, "all the things Linda used to say… all the spiteful things she'd said when I had the boys… they all came back to me. They've haunted me since the day I found out."

"I still don't get it."

_"I felt fat and ugly,"_ Kim whispered, almost ashamed to admit it she panted slightly, out of breath from forcing out words that not only pained her but embarrassed her too, "I felt like I was huge, none of my trousers fit and all I could wear were your shirts… trying to cover the bloody thing up." She closed her eyes. "I hated it, Rob, And Alex…" she choked on her admission, "Alex made me feel… _beautiful_," those words didn't come naturally to Kim. She'd never felt beautiful. She never had, she had always felt trapped in an outer shell that was as flawed and worthless as anything. She had dressed it up with ink and metal over the years but after being told so many times, by so many people, that she was ugly that single four letter word was impossible to fight.

"I'm so sorry."

Kim's head snapped up. She stared at Robin in utter confusion and bewilderment.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Kim," he said quietly, "I said I'd be there for you and look after you, and instead I was years away, and even now I'm back… I'm going to be stuck in here… god knows how long…"

"Rob, what the hell?" Kim frowned as she said at him.

"I should have been here," Robin hung his head and Kim had to forcibly tilt it so he was looking at her again.

_"You're_ apologising?" she cried "I've just told you that I've adulterated you and you're apologising to me?"

"I don't think you've got the phrasing quite right on that," Robin said quietly but Kim was on a roll.

"I've been stressing myself _crazy_ about what you were going to say or do," she cried, "I've felt so guilty and I've gone over and over in my head how the hell I was going to tell you. I've been fucking _terrified_, Robin!"

Robin felt a little taken aback.

"I'm… _sorry,"_ he said sheepishly.

"_Stop bloody apologising!"_ cried Kim, "yell at me! Scream the place down! Tell me to get the fuck out of your hospital room."

"Kim, _stop_ it," Robin whispered, her raised voice and frantic expression worrying him, "please, calm down, I'm getting worried about you."

"_Worried_ about me?" cried Kim, "I just confessed to sleeping with someone else, you're supposed to be _screaming_ at me!"

"Kim, please," he begged, turning into the world's biggest cliché, "think of the baby."

"I _slept_ with someone," Kim cried.

"And now the whole hospital needs to know?" hissed Robin.

Kim hesitated. She hadn't realised how high her volume had risen and tried to cool down a little . She knew as clichéd as it sounded Robin was right, getting worked up wasn't exactly going to help with the pregnancy. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and finally Robin asked her,

"It was just one night?"

Kim's eyes turned to him nervously. She couldn't work out what his expression was supposed to mean.

"Yes," she said quietly, although technically things had overspilled a little into the next day as well but this didn't seem like the time for pointing out factual inaccuracies.

"I," Robin seemed to cough a little, "I didn't think Alex liked other women."

"Well neither do you," Kim pointed out. She was surprised to see Robin look down with a tiny smile. What the hell was he smiling about?

"Although she did once make a comment about Gillian Anderson," he added.

"Yes and I'll be calling the bloody X-files in a minute," cried Kim, "why aren't you angry? Aren't you listening to me?"

Robin looked back at her. There was a deep look of sadness in his eyes. He drew in his breath and he whispered,

"You didn't think I was coming back, did you?"

Kim hesitated.

"I told you that already, Rob," she said quietly

Robin looked away and shook his head. He felt so many emotions charging around inside of him. His mind went over so many things; Simon's death, not knowing whether he was allowed to move on or not despite the letter, his internal conflict for months as he struggled to let go of Simon to move on and embrace his happiness with Kim and then going back to Gene's world, seeing how much Simon had changed, the bitterness between them. Robin and seen it from both sides now, being separated from love on both sides of the line.

He thought about all those months he'd dragged his feet; unable to let go, wearing Simon's ring and leaving his picture up on the wall where Kim had to face it every day, knowing that was her competition and that she couldn't possibly compete with all the years that Simon and Robin had shared. It was only when she called him to task over it and gave him an ultimatum that he realised what he stood to lose and finally made that break from the past but he could see Kim still had that doubt in her mind.

And he couldn't blame her. Hell, even he didn't know for certain what his decision would be if he crossed to the other side first. He knew now that it was Kim, it was only ever going to be Kim. He would always love Simon but that was different. He wasn't _in_ love with him any longer. It wasn't the same thing. But he'd never let Kim know that.

And he knew what it was like to be lonely, never knowing whether he could ever be reunited with someone on the other side of the line. It was a horrible feeling. And when he and Kim had started their relationship he tortured himself with guilt for such a long time. It was a terrible thing to go through. And that was why he couldn't let Kim go through the same thing, and why he just couldn't see it as cheating. Rightly or wrongly, he understood on a level that was impossible to explain.

He reached out and took her hand. It was a gesture that surprised her. She looked at him as he said quietly,

"Don't start getting offended, Kim. It's not about… being jealous or _not_ being jealous… it's not about whether I am supposed to be yelling my head off at you or not. These are not the same rules anyone else plays by." He shook his head and breathed out slowly. "_Fuck_, Kim, Simon is so screwed up. And _I_ did that. He waited for me for all that time and I'd moved on." He shook his head again. "And I was screwing you up too."

"Don't be stupid."

"I was too scared to admit that I'd already let Simon go," he said quietly, "I never let you know… that it was only ever going to be you." He swallowed and looked her in the eye. "I can't… can't see this the way I'm supposed to, I'm sorry."

"Rob, I _slept_ with _Alex –"_

"You needed her," he said quietly, "didn't you?"

"But I cheated on you."

"Did you think I was coming back?" He watched her freeze, staring at him, not wanting to answer that question. "Did you think I'd chosen Simon?" He saw her eyes drop. She really had. He'd never reassured her. He'd wasted so much time clinging on, unable to take that leap and make them both truly happy. "Fuck, Kim, I'm sorry."

"_Stop bloody apologizing!"_ Kim cried.

"If _I_ stop, _you_ stop," Robin told her. He saw her looking away awkwardly. "We also… never…" he paused, "had a conversation about… he hesitated. He could feel his face going red. "You must have felt… _relieved?..._ to be with a woman again…"

Kim stared at him, mortified.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to have sex with a woman again!" she cried.

"I know, I know," Robin said quickly, "but it was always going to come up at some point, wasn't it?"

"Only because you _brought_ it up!"

"Kim…"

Kim looked down. She couldn't help feeling this was all the wrong way round. Wasn't she supposed to be the one crying and apologising and trying to justify her actions while Robin was supposed to be yelling at her, dishing out blame and getting angry?

"That's really not why it happened," she said quietly.

"But it wouldn't exactly have happened if it had been Gene Hunt bunking down in the spare room, would it?" Robin pointed out. He didn't want to make Kim feel worse but it was something they needed to get into the open sooner or later. "Are you going to stop pretending not to fancy Alex now?"

"What?" Kim's eyes opened wide in horror and despite himself Robin had to laugh which only served to rile her up further. "I'm sorry," he said with a tiny smile, "it's been blindingly obvious."

"_How?"_ Kim's cheeks darkened.

"The way you look at her," said Robin, "the way you behave… I've never seen you go coy or shy with anyone else. I didn't think shy was in your vocabulary."

"_Shit,"_ Kim closed her eyes.

"You're allowed to have crushes, Kim."

"Not supposed to sleep with them though."

"Well no, not usually," Robin sighed as he tried to work out a way to explain things without insulting Kim again. "Maybe _I've_ got a problem… but I just can't see it as cheating, it's… its too complicated. Normal rules don't apply to us, our situation is… _too weird._ Worlds. Life and death. Sexuality. Nothing's normal." He squeezed her hand and looked at her seriously "Can I ask you a hypothetical?"

"Last time you said that you speculated about me falling under a bus," Kim reminded him suspiciously. She saw him roll his eyes. "Alright. What is it?"

"How would you be feeling if I'd came home and told you I'd…" he shrugged, had sex with Simon or something?"

"You had sex with _Simon?"_

"No, but if I did."

Kim couldn't even understand what was going on any more.

"You're making my _brain_ hurt!" she whimpered.

"Theoretically, Kim. If it was just sex… I don't mean like some sleazy thing… "

Kim couldn't quite work out what he was saying.

"Would he be wearing the jumper?"

Robin blanched.

"Definitely not."

Kim fell silent. She looked down, just trying to think about it. She could understand what Robin was saying. She couldn't explain it but it didn't feel like cheating. She knew that they were both still gay, and despite their relationship and everything they might do in the bedroom - or Alex's hospital room – there was always that other part of them that was never going to change. There were some needs Kim couldn't fulfil and vice versa. It wasn't as though either of them were even bisexual – their love worked _despite_ of what they had stashed in their pants rather than _because_ of it. And even with the most complete love in the world there was always going to be that pang of need lurking in the background. Both had been willing to ignore it and brush it aside. But for the first time they both started to question whether they had to.

"I," she began quietly, "would feel alright. I think." She looked at Robin, "it doesn't feel like…" she wasn't sure how to phrase it, "it's not like… if you fell in love with him again, that might be different, you have such a history, but…" she shook her head slowly, surprised by the way she felt about the concept. When she thought back it was Robin's intense love for Simon that she felt threatened by, not anything they might have ever done in the bedroom. And she knew now that when it came down to it, they were rock solid. "What are you saying?" she asked.

Even Robin wasn't totally sure.

"Maybe sometimes," he said quietly, "we need_… that." _He couldn't believe he was even saying it. He found himself a lot more open minded than he realised. Perhaps Simon had stifled his own views and opinions for a long time? He wasn't sure. "It's not like we're bloody swingers or anything," the thought of it made Kim giggle slightly, "Sometimes I'd wondered about it…"

"It's not exactly the done thing though," Kim said awkwardly.

"When have we ever done the 'done thing'? Robin pointed out.

"True," Kim whispered with a smile. She looked down, "if we did ever… _do this,"_ she said awkwardly, "I don't think many people would understand."

"They wouldn't have to," shrugged Robin, "it's none of their business."

Kim bit her lip awkwardly.

"Maybe we need to talk about this when you're out of hospital," she said quietly. She paused. "But I _would_ like to."

Robin nodded.

"I think I would too," he said quietly.

Kim lay back by his side and snuggled against him. Being in his arms made her feel safe and secure. The conversation hadn't exactly gone the way she'd been expecting. In fact, she couldn't have imagined it going much more differently unless Robin had declared his love for a giraffe or something. She still felt guilty about her night with Alex because, whatever conversation they'd just had, the night in question came before it and more or less happened behind his back. But the circumstances _were_ strange and it wasn't easy to put into context. She turned to him a little and said,

"Rob?"

"Hmm?"

"If we'd had this conversation months back…. Do you think you and Simon…?"

Robin thought carefully as she trailed away and to his own surprise he found himself shaking his head.

"No," he said quietly, "I think he's just changed a little bit too much. We both have."

"Not even if it was drunken pity sex or something?" Kim asked.

"It would have to be _very_ drunken,." Robin almost smiled. He paused. "No, I never would. I don't want to spoil the last time we had. It was too special. I'd never go back there now."

Kim looked at Robin. She felt herself smiling just a little.

"I still think you need to yell and bawl at me," she said.

Robin shook his head.

"Gene'll do that for both of us whenever you end up over there," he teased.

Kim cringed and buried her head and Robin's chest.

"Oh shit, I didn't think of that," she groaned.

Robin laughed gently as he held her close. He knew that most wouldn't share his views but he couldn't change them to fit in with the norm. His relationship with Kim wasn't exactly conventional. If he cared about the constraints of society then they'd never have even gotten as far as they had.

No, he loved Kim and he knew Kim felt the same way. He felt more secure that he ever had before.

"I only ask one thing," he said.

Kim looked at him.

"What's that?"

"Spare me the details of Alex's squidgy bits?" he looked a little green and Kim gave him a sheepish smile.

"It's a deal," she promised.

_**~xXx~**_

_**A/N: That was supposed to be a lot angstier than it turned out! Forgive any dumb mistakes, highly medicated over here! :P**_


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